Sanctions 2025

BELGIUM Law and Practice Contributed by: Valerijus Ostrovskis, Bogdan Evtimov, Michael De Boeck and Coline Cauvin, ACQUIS

Depending on the regions of Belgium in which the EU operator is active or the transaction takes place (Flemish Region, Brussels Capital Region, and Wal - loon Region), authorities may further vary and share competence. 2.2 Enforcement 2.2.1 Enforcement Responsibilities Enforcement of sanctions regulations is shared between several competent authorities, each within their respective competences. The main national com - petent authorities for sanctions derogation licences are the Ministry of Finance for financial sanctions (including asset freezes), and the Ministry of Economy for economic sanctions. Each of those administrations monitors the enforce - ment of sanctions within its scope of competences, may impose conditions for derogation licences and may actively monitor activity within its purview and detect violations that may be grounds for criminal action by the public prosecutor’s office. Additionally, the federal ministry competent for the type of sanc - tions violation may also decide to impose an admin - istrative penalty. Additionally, sanctions violations are criminal offences. As a result, they may be investigated and prosecuted through the ordinary criminal enforcement framework involving the police authorities, the public prosecu - tor’s office, and/or investigating judges. 2.2.2 Breaching Sanctions Sanctions violations are a criminal offence under Bel - gian law. The legal basis of such penalties may be found in various laws adopted to ensure the imple - mentation of UN and EU sanctions regimes in Bel - gium, such as: • Article 4 of the Law of 11 May 1995 regarding the implementation of United Nations Security Council decisions; and • Article 6 of the Law of 13 May 2003 regarding the implementation of restrictive measures adopted by the Council of the European Union against some states, persons and entities.

The provisions of the Belgian Penal Code are gener - ally applicable to these offences – meaning that one may be prosecuted as an accomplice to a sanctions violation for (unsuccessful) attempts to violate sanc - tions. Funds or assets considered to be illegal pro - ceeds from sanctions violations may be confiscated, notwithstanding any imposed criminal penalties. Infringements of EU sanctions are punishable by eight days’ to five years’ imprisonment and by a fine of EUR200 to EUR200,000. An administrative fine of EUR2,000 to EUR20 million may also be imposed. It is important to note that the recent Directive (EU) 2024/1226 on the harmonisation of definitions and penalties for sanctions violations was adopted in April 2024 and must be transposed in the national legisla - tion of all EU member states by 20 May 2025. This directive, once transposed, may significantly alter (and increase) criminal liability for sanctions violations. 2.2.3 Civil Enforcement Action Violation of EU sanctions can lead to the imposition of penalties. Sanctions penalties range from admin - istrative fines imposed by the customs authorities, to the imposition of criminal penalties for the most serious infringements. Civil courts do not enforce EU sanctions but do acknowledge EU sanctions in civil or commercial-related disputes, and recognise enforce - ment actions from Belgium and other EU member states. 2.2.4 Criminal Enforcement Action The enforcement of EU sanctions through criminal actions is a competence of the general public pros - ecutor’s office. It is not clear how many criminal con - victions have been made in the last years because criminal court judgments are not public. One of the most notable enforcement actions, although predating the past three-year period, occurred in Feb - ruary 2019. The Criminal Court of Antwerp convicted three Belgian companies and associated individuals for exports breaching EU sanctions on Syria. AAE Chemie Trading was fined EUR346,443 (of which EUR50,000 was effective), Anex Customs was fined EUR500,000 (EUR100,000 effective), and Danmar Logistics was fined EUR75,000 (EUR50,000 effective).

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